


Critical Point

by TheXGrayXLady



Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-18
Updated: 2012-12-18
Packaged: 2017-11-21 12:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/597580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheXGrayXLady/pseuds/TheXGrayXLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How far will you go to drown it out when all you can hear is, "you're not good enough?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Critical Point

Rain splattered to the paving stones in the middle of the half-built temple complex. Skeletons of future dining halls, dormitories, and meditation chambers stood silhouetted in faint firelight coming from the courtyard. They cast sharp, geometric shadows, turning the normally welcoming place into an almost nightmare like dreamland. Despite this, there was a young man in the rain-soaked courtyard.

He looked to be in his mid to late teens, of average height and slight build. He was practicing a set of intricate movements, and every time he looked to be finished, an expression of something between frustration and disgust would cross his face and he would start all over again. Rain dripped from his long black hair as he performed the moves as he had for hours. His ragged breathing formed a sort of rhythm with his irregular splashing footsteps in the puddles.

He flinched as he landed a particularly difficult flip, but didn't stop. Whenever he stopped, his body would start to tremble. Whether it was from cold, pain, or exhaustion would have been difficult to tell. Another series of flips and kicks, this time he wasn't quite so lucky. His left leg crumpled beneath him and if not for one of the paving stones flying up to catch him, he would have fallen to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing? It's almost midnight and it's raining," Another young man stepped out of one of the few finished buildings. He didn't have the same haggard appearance of the other, but it was evident that he was worried about something.

"What does it look like? I'm training," he replied, unconsciously leaning on the floating stone for support. He tried to put weight on his left ankle again. He gave a barely audible gasp and his face contorted, but he didn't shift his body.

"Master Li ordered you to stay off your ankle for at least a week," the larger boy said. His tone was perfectly flat. No emotion, just stating a fact.

"Master Li's overreacting. There's nothing wrong with my ankle," he said through gritted teeth. Shadows from the fire made the dark circles under his eyes stand out against his deathly pale skin.

"Yes there is, but that's the least of it. Chase, you can't keep doing this to yourself," he said.

"I'm not doing anything. It's just training." His voice was cold and quiet, but had a bit of a feral edge to it.

"In the middle of the night when you were ordered not to," he said. Another statement of fact. "And you're always either training or studying. We're all worried about you."

"What is there to worry about? I'm fine," Chase said. The fire dimmed in response to this, hiding his pained expression.

"I'm just saying that the way you are now, I don't want you to have my back in a fight. Dashi was right when he said that you're working yourself into an early grave," he said, calmly folding his hands behind his back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He tried to fall into an attack stance, but his bad leg was having none of that. It was just sheer force of will keeping him on his feet now. Forcing down the pain, forcing down the exhaustion.

"I mean it had better only look like you haven't slept in a week," he said. "You're pushing yourself too hard. You never take a break, even when you need it. When was the last time you ate a meal with the rest of us? Hell, when was the last time you ate in general? You need to rest, but you're refusing to. And now you're out here in the freezing rain in the middle of the night, flipping around on a leg that won't take it."

"Dragon of Fire. I don't get cold."

"That's not the point. We're Xiaolin Dragons, but we're also human. We've got limits. You're killing yourself and I don't get why. You were fighting perfectly fine before you started this excessive training."

"Because it's not good enough. I got beaten by Hannibal. I can't let that happen again," he said, his voice like cold steel. "If my best isn't good enough then I have to be better. Limits were meant to be surpassed."

"Not the way you're trying to. If you're too stubborn to see that you're overworking yourself, at least know that your skills have gotten worse over the last few days." Upon hearing the insult to his abilities, Chase lunged for the larger boy. He didn't even flinch, just blocked. The smaller boy wound up on the ground anyway.

"Even yesterday you would have had enough strength to fight back. You went past your limit a long time ago and you're just running out of time until you finally break. You're my best friend. I don't want to see it when you do," he said, turning to leave.

He didn't get more than a few steps before hearing, "Guan, help me up."

"So you can get right back to "training"."

"I told you already, I'm not good enough. I can't stop until I am," he said, trying to stand, but unable to.

"Do you define good enough as barely able to stand and getting weaker by the moment? Because if that's what it is then you are flawless," he replied, almost glaring at the boy on the ground, but unable to even look at him.

"I'll be fine. I just need a little help getting back up," he said. The silence that followed was only interrupted by the feeble crackle of the fire.

"Alright then. I'll help you up, but on one condition," he said, breaking the silence. Chase winced and nodded. "If you can take ten steps I will leave you alone and you can do whatever the hell you want. If you can't, then you are going to come back inside and stop this idiocy."

"I give my word." He held his hand out for assistance.

Guan helped his friend to his feet and then stepped back. The fire flickered, but defiantly stayed burning as Chase took a first shaky step. His body shook as he fought for a second, and then a third. Pain filled his gold eyes, but he struggled on. The fire dimmed even further around the sixth or seventh and Guan expression shifted from one of stoicism to one of worry. At the eighth step, his determination gave him new strength and the fire blazed stronger than ever. Upon the ninth he looked to be almost glowing in the firelight. A look of fierce pride almost obscured the pain in his eyes and face.

Guan whispered "what have I done?" as his friend took the final step. It would have been difficult to see, but for a moment, Chase looked to be similarly concerned. His left foot touched the ground one final time and somehow it looked like it would hold. Then a look passed through his eyes, like he'd come to a decision, and he fell to the ground. The fire dimmed down to barely smoldering embers, but stayed glowing.

"Come on you hothead," Guan said, helping Chase to his feet and helping him walk to the dormitories. "You're not killing yourself tonight."

Chase hobbled alongside his friend and said in a voice inaudible to all but those with the most precise hearing, "thank you."


End file.
